Firings, ousters, hot water, and the arrogance of the Chinese foreign minister
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon media official, showed some mighty bad judgement.
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon media official, showed some mighty bad judgement.
Speaking of the media, when the Chinese foreign minister was asked about human rights during a press conference in Canada, he got all shirty: “Your question is full of prejudice against China and arrogance... This is totally unacceptable.” QED. (证毕)
In other Francophone affairs, the French military vaguely “suspended” five soldiers for failing to act to protect people in the Central African Republic they were supposed to protect.
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon media official, showed some mighty bad judgement.
Speaking of the media, when the Chinese foreign minister was asked about human rights during a press conference in Canada, he got all shirty: “Your question is full of prejudice against China and arrogance… This is totally unacceptable.” QED. (证毕)
In other Francophone affairs, the French military vaguely “suspended” five soldiers for failing to act to protect people in the Central African Republic they were supposed to protect.
Finally, the commander of Navy’s Undersea Warfare Center (Newport Division) was scuppered on the “loss of confidence” rap.
Question: Is there a pattern of commanders of front-line units (and attacks subs and such) getting command of rear units (Newport, or say Stuttgart) and then getting nailed for being mean, rough, and having a hostile environment? (And yes, the Navy is be congratulated for being far more transparent about such moves than is the Army, which hides behind privacy laws.)
Photo credit: Peretz Partensky/Flickr
More from Foreign Policy

Is Cold War Inevitable?
A new biography of George Kennan, the father of containment, raises questions about whether the old Cold War—and the emerging one with China—could have been avoided.

So You Want to Buy an Ambassadorship
The United States is the only Western government that routinely rewards mega-donors with top diplomatic posts.

Can China Pull Off Its Charm Offensive?
Why Beijing’s foreign-policy reset will—or won’t—work out.

Turkey’s Problem Isn’t Sweden. It’s the United States.
Erdogan has focused on Stockholm’s stance toward Kurdish exile groups, but Ankara’s real demand is the end of U.S. support for Kurds in Syria.